Publisher's Synopsis
Full text.
Fourteen-year-old Mary "Polly" Milton is the new face of the girl who everyone calls Polly Pure, even if she is from the Victorian era. Being the country girl with her city cousins, Polly just can't seem to fit in. She means well, but she isn't just the image of high fashion; much to the dismay of her hostess, Fran. She doesn't do her hair right, she doesn't know enough about foreign languages, and she dresses so plainly that she could look just as fashionable in a potato sack, at least to Fran. Polly somehow finds a way to overlook all of her "shortcomings" and try her best to be herself in the environment she is in.
Louisa May Alcott takes readers on an adventure as Polly goes through thick in thin with the main characters of this book: Fran, Tom, and Maud. She's harassed, but she perseveres. She's tricked, but she laughs about it. And most of all, she shows everyone how charming an old fashioned, sweet personality can be. After reading An Old Fashioned Girl, you may find yourself pondering becoming a bit more like Polly yourself.
